Information input device, method, and computer-readable medium for operating a controller in different modes corresponding to different device drivers

ABSTRACT

An information input device includes: a communication interface configured to communicate with each of a first external apparatus that operates using a first operating system and a second external apparatus that operates using a second operating system; and a controller configured to operate in a first mode corresponding to a first driver used by the first external apparatus when transferring data to the first external apparatus, and operate in a second mode corresponding to a second driver different from the first driver and used by the second external apparatus when transferring data to the second external apparatus.

BACKGROUND Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to an information input device, a method,and a program, and particularly to an information input device forinputting information to a personal computer (PC) or a smart phone, anda related method and a related program.

Description of the Related Art

A pen tablet as a kind of information input device for inputtinginformation to a PC is a device configured to sequentially detect theposition of an electronic pen on a panel surface, and supply theposition of the electronic pen to the PC. Japanese Patent Laid-Open No.2018-106594 discloses an example of this type of pen tablet.

Progress has recently been made in a multi-device environment in whichone person uses a plurality of devices such as a PC and a smart phoneand a multi-operating system (OS) environment in which one person uses aplurality of operating systems (OSes) such as Windows and Android.Accordingly, information input devices also need to support themulti-device environment and the multi-OS environment.

BRIEF SUMMARY

Hence, it is an object of the present disclosure to provide aninformation input device, a method, and a program that support themulti-device environment and the multi-OS environment.

According to the present disclosure, there is provided an informationinput device including: a communication interface configured tocommunicate with each of a first external apparatus operating using afirst operating system and a second external apparatus operating using asecond operating system; and a controller configured to operate in afirst mode corresponding to a first driver used by the first externalapparatus when transferring data to the first external apparatus, andoperate in a second mode corresponding to a second driver different fromthe first driver and used by the second external apparatus whentransferring data to the second external apparatus.

According to the present disclosure, there is provided a methodincluding: starting a communication with an external apparatus while acontroller operates in a first mode; determining whether an operatingsystem of the external apparatus is a second operating system based on aresult of the communication; and switching from operating the controllerin the first mode to operating the controller in a second mode when aresult of the determining is that the operating system of the externalapparatus as a communication partner is the second operating system.

According to the present disclosure, there is provided a non-transitorycomputer-readable medium storing computer-readable instructions that,when executed by a processor, cause a computer to: start a communicationwith an external apparatus while operating the controller in a firstmode; determine whether an operating system of the external apparatus isa second operating system based on a result of the communication; andswitch from operating the controller in the first mode to operating thecontroller in in a second mode when the operating system of the externalapparatus is determined to be the second operating system.

According to the present disclosure, it is possible to provide aninformation input device, a method, and a program that support themulti-device environment and the multi-OS environment.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A is a diagram illustrating a state in which a pen tabletaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure is connected to aPC, and FIG. 1B is a diagram illustrating a state in which the pentablet according to the present embodiment is connected to a smartphone;

FIGS. 2A and 2B are diagrams illustrating internal configurations of thepen tablet, an electronic pen, the PC, and the smart phone;

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating internal configurations of a touchsensor and a controller;

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a driver table stored within memoriesin advance;

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating concrete connection wiring between auniversal serial bus (USB) communicating circuit of the pen tablet andeach of a USB communicating unit of the PC and a USB communicatingcircuit of the smart phone;

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a processing sequence between the PCand the pen tablet; and

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a processing sequence between the smartphone and the pen tablet.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

An embodiment of the present disclosure will hereinafter be described indetail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1A is a diagram illustrating a state in which a pen tablet 1according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is connected to aPC 10. FIG. 1B is a diagram illustrating a state in which the pen tablet1 according to the present embodiment is connected to a smart phone 20.

The pen tablet 1 includes a touch sensor 2 constituting a touch surface.In addition, an electronic pen 30 is a pen type terminal (stylus).Incidentally, the electronic pen 30 may have an ink exuding functionsuch as that of a ballpoint pen. The pen tablet 1 in this case is usedin a state in which paper is placed on the touch surface.

The pen tablet 1 is configured to be able to detect coordinatesindicating the position of the electronic pen 30 on the touch surface bya capacitance system or an electromagnetic induction system. Inaddition, the electronic pen 30 is configured to be able to transmit, tothe pen tablet 1, various kinds of data such as a pen pressure valueindicating a force applied to a pen tip of each electronic pen, sideswitch information indicating an on-off state of a side switch providedto each electronic pen, and a stylus identification (ID) stored by eachpen in advance. Data may be configured to be able to be transmitted alsofrom the pen tablet 1 to the electronic pen 30. In this case, a commandfor specifying data to be transmitted by the electronic pen 30, forexample, is transmitted from the pen tablet 1 to the electronic pen 30.

The PC 10 is, for example, a notebook type computer, and is a PCoperating on an OS of Microsoft Windows (registered trademark), forexample. The PC 10 includes an output device including a display 11 andan input device including a keyboard 12 and a mouse pad 13. The smartphone 20 is, for example, a flat plate type computer, and is, forexample, a smart phone operating on an OS of Android (registeredtrademark). The smart phone 20 includes a touch screen 21 having a sizethat enables it to be held in one hand. In the following, descriptionwill be continued assuming this typical example. However, the PC 10 maybe, for example, a desktop type computer or a computer functioning as aserver. In addition, the smart phone 20 may be a tablet terminal havinga larger touch screen 21.

The pen tablet 1 according to the present embodiment is configured to beable to be connected to each of the PC 10 and the smart phone 20 by aUSB cable C illustrated in FIGS. 1A and 1B. Incidentally, whiledescription will be made of an example of thus using connection based onthe USB standard in the present embodiment, the present disclosure isapplicable also to cases of using connection based on another standardsuch as Lightning and Bluetooth (registered trademark).

FIGS. 2A and 2B are diagrams illustrating internal configurations of thepen tablet 1, the electronic pen 30, the PC 10, and the smart phone 20.FIG. 2A corresponds to FIG. 1A. FIG. 2B corresponds to FIG. 1B. In thefollowing, referring to FIGS. 2A and 2B, more detailed description willbe made of a configuration of each of the pen tablet 1, the electronicpen 30, the PC 10, and the smart phone 20.

The electronic pen 30 includes a loop coil (LC) resonance circuitconstituted of a capacitor 31 and an inductor 32. The inductor 32 playsa role of charging the capacitor 31 by generating an induced voltageaccording to a magnetic field supplied from the touch sensor 2 of thepen tablet 1. The inductor 32 after the supply of the magnetic fieldfrom the touch sensor 2 is stopped transmits a reflection signal to thepen tablet 1 by using the voltage stored in the capacitor 31. The thustransmitted reflection signal includes, in this order, a continuoussignal for position detection, a start signal indicating an end of thecontinuous signal, and a data signal representing data to be transmittedto the pen tablet 1 by the electronic pen 30.

The capacitor 31 is configured to change in capacitance thereofaccording to a force (=pen pressure) applied from the touch surface tothe pen tip of the electronic pen 30. When the capacitance of thecapacitor 31 changes, the resonance frequency of the resonance circuitchanges. Therefore, the frequency of the reflection signal transmittedas described above also changes according to the pen pressure. Theabove-described pen pressure value is transmitted from the electronicpen 30 to the pen tablet 1 by the change in the frequency.

The pen tablet 1 includes a controller 3, a USB communicating circuit 4,and a memory 5 in addition to the touch sensor 2 illustrated also inFIGS. 1A and 1B.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating internal configurations of the touchsensor 2 and the controller 3. As illustrated in the figure, the touchsensor 2 has a configuration in which a plurality of loop coils LC arearranged within a rectangular flat surface region. Each loop coil LC hasone end grounded, and has another end connected to the controller 3.FIG. 3 illustrates, as an example of the plurality of loop coils LC, 40loop coils X₁ to X₄₀ extending in a y-direction illustrated in thefigure and 40 loop coils Y₁ to Y₄₀ extending in an x-directionorthogonal to the y-direction. However, the number of loop coils LC tobe provided to the touch sensor 2 is not limited to this.

As illustrated in FIG. 3 , the controller 3 includes a selecting circuit60, a switch circuit 61, an amplifier 62, a detecting circuit 63, alow-pass filter (LPF) 64, a sample and hold circuit (S/H) 65, ananalog-to-digital conversion circuit (A/D) 66, a control circuit 67, anoscillator 68, and a current driver 69.

The selecting circuit 60 is connected with the other end of each loopcoil LC. The selecting circuit 60 is a circuit that selects one or moreloop coils among the loop coils X₁ to X₄₀ and Y₁ to Y₄₀ according tocontrol from the control circuit 67, and connects the selected one ormore loop coils to the switch circuit 61.

The switch circuit 61 is a switch having one common terminal and twoselecting terminals. The switch circuit 61 is configured to be able toswitch the selecting terminals connected to the common terminalaccording to control from the control circuit 67. The common terminal ofthe switch circuit 61 is connected with the selecting circuit 60. Oneselecting terminal of the switch circuit 61 is connected with the inputterminal of the amplifier 62. The other selecting terminal of the switchcircuit 61 is connected with the output terminal of the current driver69.

The amplifier 62 is a circuit that amplifies a voltage signal suppliedfrom the selecting circuit 60 via the switch circuit 61, and outputs thevoltage signal to the detecting circuit 63. The detecting circuit 63 isa circuit that generates an envelope signal by performing envelopedetection on the voltage signal output from the amplifier 62, andoutputs the envelope signal to the low-pass filter 64. The low-passfilter 64 plays a role of removing a high-frequency component from theenvelope signal generated by the detecting circuit 63. The sample andhold circuit 65 is configured to perform a sampling operation and aholding operation on the above-described envelope signal, whosehigh-frequency component has been removed by the low-pass filter 64, atpredetermined time intervals. The analog-to-digital conversion circuit66 generates a digital signal by subjecting the signal held by thesample and hold circuit 65 to analog-to-digital conversion. Theanalog-to-digital conversion circuit 66 outputs the digital signal tothe control circuit 67.

The control circuit 67 is a processor that operates according to aprogram stored in the memory 5 illustrated in FIGS. 2A and 2B. Thecontrol circuit 67 is connected to the USB communicating circuit 4 andthe memory 5. The control circuit 67 is configured to not only controlthe selecting circuit 60, the switch circuit 61, the sample and holdcircuit 65, and the analog-to-digital conversion circuit 66 but alsoperform processing of distinguishing and detecting whether or not theelectronic pen 30 is in a contact state or a hovering state andgenerating hover coordinates as the position coordinates of theelectronic pen 30 when the electronic pen 30 is in the hovering stateand contact coordinates as the position coordinates of the electronicpen 30 when the electronic pen 30 is in the contact state, processing ofobtaining various kinds of data (the pen pressure value, the side switchinformation, the stylus ID, and the like) transmitted by the electronicpen 30, and the like.

The oscillator 68 is configured to generate an alternating-currentsignal having a predetermined frequency. The current driver 69 plays arole of converting the alternating-current signal output from theoscillator 68 into a current signal, and supplying the current signal tothe switch circuit 61.

Concrete description will be made of obtainment by the control circuit67 of the coordinates of the electronic pen 30 and the various kinds ofdata transmitted by the electronic pen 30. First, the control circuit 67connects the other selecting terminal (selecting terminal connected tothe current driver 69) of the switch circuit 61 to the common terminal,and makes the selecting circuit 60 select one of the loop coils X₁ toX₄₀ and Y₁ to Y₄₀. Then, the current signal output from the currentdriver 69 generates a magnetic field in the selected loop coil LC.Incidentally, while one loop coil LC is selected in this case, a totalof two loop coils X₁ to X₄₀, that is, one loop coil from among the loopcoils X₁ to X₄₀ and one loop coil from among the loop coils Y₁ to Y₄₀may be selected, for example. In addition, a loop coil dedicated to thegeneration of the magnetic field may be disposed along the periphery ofthe touch sensor 2 separately from the loop coils X₁ to X₄₀ and Y₁ toY₄₀, and only the dedicated loop coil may be selected in this stage.

When the electronic pen 30 enters the magnetic field generated in theloop coil LC, an induced voltage is generated in the inductor 32 (FIG. 2) of the electronic pen 30, and a charge is stored in the capacitor 31(FIG. 2 ), as described above. After the passage of a predetermined timesince the control circuit 67 connects the other selecting terminal ofthe switch circuit 61 to the common terminal, the control circuit 67next connects the one selecting terminal (selecting terminal connectedto the amplifier 62) of the switch circuit 61 to the common terminal.The generation of the magnetic field from the loop coil LC is thenended. In response thereto, the electronic pen 30 starts to transmit thereflection signal described above.

The control circuit 67 is configured to determine the content of thereflection signal transmitted by the electronic pen 30 by decoding thedigital signal supplied from the analog-to-digital conversion circuit66. Then, a voltage generated in each of the loop coils X₁ to X₄₀ and Y₁to Y₄₀ is scanned by consecutively changing the loop coil LC selected bythe selecting circuit 60 while the electronic pen 30 is transmitting thecontinuous signal. The shorter a distance between the loop coil LC andthe pen tip of the electronic pen 30, the higher the thus detectedvoltage. The control circuit 67 can therefore obtain coordinatesindicating the position of the electronic pen 30 from a scanning result.

Incidentally, in order to shorten a scanning time, the positiondetection may be performed by scanning all of the loop coils LC asdescribed above only for a first time (in this case, the first positiondetection is performed while the start signal and the data signal areregarded as the continuous signal during the transmission of the startsignal and the data signal by the electronic pen 30), and only loopcoils LC located in the vicinity of the previously detected position maybe scanned from a second time.

On the other hand, while the electronic pen 30 is transmitting the datasignal, the control circuit 67 makes the selecting circuit 60 select oneof the loop coils LC (usually, one closest to the detected position ofthe electronic pen 30) according to the detected position of theelectronic pen 30. Then, the side switch information or the stylus IDtransmitted by the electronic pen 30 is obtained from a result ofdecoding the signal obtained through the thus selected loop coil LC.

In addition, the control circuit 67 is configured to detect thefrequency of the reflection signal transmitted by the electronic pen 30,and obtain the pen pressure value transmitted by the electronic pen 30from the detected frequency. The control circuit 67 is configured todistinguish and detect whether the electronic pen 30 is in either of thehovering state and the contact state based on the thus obtained penpressure value.

The description returns to FIGS. 2A and 2B. The USB communicatingcircuit 4 is a communication interface configured to be capable ofperforming communication with each of various kinds of externalapparatuses including the PC 10 and the smart phone 20 according to theUSB standard. The USB communicating circuit 4 is configured to establishcommunication based on USB with the external apparatuses according tocontrol of the controller 3.

Here, driver software will be described. When the pen tablet 1 isconnected to an external apparatus such as the PC 10 and the smart phone20, driver software (hereinafter referred to as simply as a “driver”)for the connected pen tablet 1 needs to be started on the externalapparatus side. In order to realize this start, the OS of the externalapparatus stores, in advance, a driver table associating a vendor IDindicating the vendor of the pen tablet with a driver to be applied.

The OS of the external apparatus reads the vendor ID from the pen tablet1 by using a predetermined protocol when the pen tablet 1 is connected.Then, the OS of the external apparatus determines the driver to bestarted based on the read vendor ID and the driver table, and starts thedetermined driver.

In a case where the driver to be started is determined but the driver isnot installed in the external apparatus, the OS of the externalapparatus performs automatic installation of the driver. In a case wherethe automatic installation cannot be performed, the OS of the externalapparatus makes display for prompting for manual installation by a user.Thus, ultimately, the driver as described in the driver table can bestarted.

The PC 10 and the smart phone 20 are configured to use the driver toconnect to the pen tablet 1 based on the USB standard.

The PC 10 is configured to be able to use, as the driver, both of a pentablet driver DA, which is independently provided by the vendor of thepen tablet 1, and a versatile pen tablet driver DB. On the other hand, asituation is conceivable in which a part of models of smart phones 20are configured to be able to use both of the pen tablet drivers DA andDB, and a part of models of smart phones 20 are configured to be able touse only the pen tablet driver DB. In view of such a situation ofprovision of the drivers, the controller 3 is configured to operate in amode corresponding to the pen tablet driver DA (which mode willhereinafter be referred to as a “PC mode”) when transferring data to thePC 10 based on the USB standard, and operate in a mode corresponding tothe pen tablet driver DB (which mode will hereinafter be referred to asa “smart phone mode”) when transferring data to the smart phone 20 basedon the USB standard. Because the corresponding drivers are thusdifferent, different devices appear to be connected as viewed from theexternal apparatus side when the controller 3 operates in the PC modeand when the controller 3 operates in the smart phone mode.

The data transferred to the external apparatus by the controller 3includes the coordinates of the electronic pen 30 which coordinates areobtained as described above and the various kinds of data received fromthe electronic pen 30. The controller 3 is configured to transfer thesepieces of data to the external apparatus via the USB communicatingcircuit 4 each time the controller 3 obtains the data. The externalapparatus performs processing such as the control of a cursor, thegeneration of stroke data, and rendering based on the coordinates andthe various kinds of data thus supplied.

The memory 5 is a storage device configured to be able to store variouskinds of programs and data related to the operation of the controller 3.The operation of the controller 3 described in the present embodiment isimplemented by the controller 3 (more specifically, the control circuit67 illustrated in FIG. 3 ) by reading and executing a program stored inthe memory 5.

Next, the PC 10 includes a processor 14, a memory 15, and a USBcommunicating circuit 16 in addition to the display 11 described above.Incidentally, FIGS. 2A and 2B do not illustrate the keyboard 12 and themouse pad 13 illustrated in FIG. 1A.

The processor 14 is a processor that operates according to a programstored in the memory 15. The processor 14 is connected to the display11, the memory 15, and the USB communicating circuit 16. The programexecuted by the processor 14 includes not only an OS 17 (for example,Microsoft Windows (registered trademark)) of the PC 10 but also theabove-described pen tablet drivers DA and DB.

The memory 15 plays a role of not only storing various kinds of programsand data related to the operation of the processor 14 but also storingcoordinate data received from the pen tablet 1. The processor 14performs processing such as the control of a cursor, the generation ofstroke data, and rendering based on coordinates and various kinds ofdata written successively from the pen tablet 1 to the memory 15.

The USB communicating circuit 16 is a communication interface configuredto be capable of performing communication with each of various kinds ofexternal apparatuses including the pen tablet 1 according to the USBstandard. The USB communicating circuit 16 is configured to establishcommunication based on USB with the external apparatuses including thepen tablet 1 according to control of the processor 14.

Next, the smart phone 20 includes a processor 24, a memory 25, and a USBcommunicating circuit 26 in addition to the touch screen 21 describedabove.

The processor 24 is a processor that operates according to a programstored in the memory 25. The processor 24 is connected to the touchscreen 21, the memory 25, and the USB communicating circuit 26. Theprogram executed by the processor 24 includes not only an OS 27 (forexample, Android (registered trademark)) of the smart phone 20 but alsothe above-described pen tablet driver DB. The pen tablet driver DA maybe further included depending on the model of the smart phone 20.

The memory 25 plays a role of not only storing various kinds of programsand data related to the operation of the processor 24 but also storingcoordinates and various kinds of data received from the pen tablet 1.The processor 24 performs processing such as the control of a cursor,the generation of stroke data, and rendering based on the coordinatesand the various kinds of data written successively from the pen tablet 1to the memory 25.

The USB communicating circuit 26 is a communication interface configuredto be capable of performing communication with each of various kinds ofexternal apparatuses including the pen tablet 1 according to the USBstandard. The USB communicating circuit 26 is configured to establishcommunication based on USB with the external apparatuses including thepen tablet 1 according to control of the processor 24.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating the driver table stored within thememories 15 and 25 in advance. As illustrated in the figure, the drivertable stores product IDs and vendor IDs of external apparatuses anddrivers to be started in association with each other. A product ID isidentification information indicating a type of external apparatus (pentablet or the like). A vendor ID is identification informationindicating a vendor (manufacturer) of the external apparatus.

When each of the processors 14 and 24 starts communication with anexternal apparatus via the USB communicating circuit 16 or 26, theprocessor first requests the external apparatus to transmit a product IDand a vendor ID. Then, each of the processors 14 and 24 determines adriver to be started by referring to the driver table based on theproduct ID and the vendor ID sent from the external apparatus as aresult of the request.

In the driver table of FIG. 4 , the pen tablet driver DA is associatedwith a combination of a product ID indicating a pen tablet and a vendorID indicating a vendor A. The driver thus associated with the specificvendor ID is typically the own driver of the vendor. In addition, thepen tablet driver DB is associated with a product ID indicating a pentablet without the vendor ID being specified. The driver thus notassociated with any specific vendor ID is typically a versatile driver.According to the driver table of FIG. 4 , the processors 14 and 24 applythe pen tablet driver DA to the pen tablet 1 of the vendor A, and applythe pen tablet driver DB to the pen tablets 1 of other than the vendorA.

Here, in a case where the driver determined by referring to the drivertable is not installed within the PC 10, the processor 14, for example,automatically downloads the driver from a server computer, installs thedriver, and then applies the driver. In a case where the driver cannotbe downloaded from the server computer, the processor 14 makes displayfor prompting the user to install the driver.

On the other hand, in the smart phone 20 operating on the OS 27, theprocessor 24 decides to start the pen tablet driver DA based on thedriver table. However, the pen tablet driver DA is not installed on thesmart phone 20, and therefore the pen tablet driver DA cannot bestarted. Hence, the smart phone 20 and the pen tablet 1 are in a stateof not being able to communicate with each other.

In order for the smart phone 20 and the pen tablet 1 to be in a state ofbeing able to communicate with each other, it is sufficient for thesmart phone 20 to start the pen tablet driver DB. The present embodimentrealizes the start of the pen tablet driver DB by processing on the pentablet 1 side. Details of this processing will be described later.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating concrete connection wiring between theUSB communicating circuit 4 of the pen tablet 1 and each of the USBcommunicating circuit 16 of the PC 10 and the USB communicating circuit26 of the smart phone 20. As illustrated in the figure, the USBcommunicating circuit 4 and each of the USB communicating circuits 16and 26 are connected to each other via four pieces of wiring, that is,signal wiring D+ and D− and power supply wiring VH and VL. When the USBcommunicating circuit 16 or the USB communicating circuit 26 isconnected to the USB communicating circuit 4, the potential of thesignal wiring D+ is first raised by only a predetermined value by thecontroller 3 of the pen tablet 1 (pull-up). The processor 14 or 24 isconfigured to detect that an external apparatus is connected to the USBcommunicating circuit 16 or 26 by detecting this pull-up. Detecting thatthe external apparatus is connected to the USB communicating circuit 16or 26, the processor 14 or 24 starts communication with the externalapparatus by using the signal wiring D+ and D−, and starts power supplyto the external apparatus through the power supply wiring VH and VL.

Next, processing on the pen tablet 1 side for making the pen tablet 1 ofthe vendor A able to communicate with the smart phone 20 will bedescribed in detail with reference to a processing sequence between eachof the PC 10 and the smart phone 20 and the pen tablet 1.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a processing sequence between the PC 10and the pen tablet 1. The processing of the PC 10 which processing willbe illustrated in the following is performed by the processor 14illustrated in FIGS. 2A and 2B, and the processing of the pen tablet 1is performed by the controller 3 illustrated in FIGS. 2A and 2B.

As illustrated in FIG. 6 , first, the pen tablet 1 detects that the USBcable C is connected to the USB communicating circuit 4 (S1), and nextpulls up the signal wiring D+ (S2). The pen tablet 1 thereafter startscommunication in the above-described PC mode (mode corresponding to thepen tablet driver DA) (S3).

When the PC 10 detects the pulling up of the signal wiring D+ (S20) inresponse to the pulling up of the signal wiring D+ at S2, the PC 10transmits a command GetDeviceDescriptor for requesting transmission of aproduct ID and a vendor ID to the pen tablet 1 by using the signalwiring D+ and D− (S21). Receiving this command, the pen tablet 1transmits a response DeviceDescriptor including the product IDindicating the pen tablet and the vendor ID indicating the vendor A(S4).

Receiving this response, the PC 10 determines that the driver to beapplied is the pen tablet driver DA by referring to the driver tableillustrated in FIG. 4 (S22). As described above, the PC 10 can use thepen tablet driver DA. The PC 10 therefore starts communication byactually starting the determined pen tablet driver DA (S23).

Meanwhile, the pen tablet 1 determines whether or not the OS of theexternal apparatus as a communication partner is the OS 27 by analyzingthe transmission and reception of the command GetDeviceDescriptor andthe response DeviceDescriptor and another communication pattern (S5). Inthe case of FIG. 6 , the external apparatus as a communication partneris the PC 10, and therefore a result of this determination is negative.In this case, the pen tablet 1 continues performing communication in thePC mode. The PC 10 is also performing communication using the pen tabletdriver DA. Thus, communication between the PC 10 and the pen tablet 1 isperformed without any problem in this state.

Next, FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a processing sequence between thesmart phone 20 and the pen tablet 1. The processing of the smart phone20 which processing will be illustrated in the following is performed bythe processor 24 illustrated in FIG. 2B, and the processing of the pentablet 1 is performed by the controller 3 illustrated in FIG. 2B.

The processing at S1 to S5 and S20 to S22 is similar to the processingillustrated in FIG. 6 . The smart phone 20, which decides to start thepen tablet driver DA at S22, determines that communication cannot beperformed because the pen tablet driver DA is not present within thesmart phone 20 (S24). As a result, communication between the smart phone20 and the pen tablet 1 is temporarily ended here.

Meanwhile, a result of the determination at S5 is affirmative in theexample of FIG. 7 because the external apparatus as a communicationpartner is the smart phone 20 operating on the OS 27. In this case, thepen tablet 1 performs processing of once disconnecting connectionbetween the USB communicating circuit 4 and the external apparatus, andswitching to communication in the above-described smart phone mode (modecorresponding to the pen tablet driver DB). Specifically, the potentialof the signal wiring D+ is first pulled down to a predetermined value orlower (pull-down, S6), and the potential of the signal wiring D+ isthereafter pulled up again (S7). Thus, the smart phone 20 detects thepulling up of the signal wiring D+ again (S25), and transmits a commandGetDeviceDescriptor to the pen tablet 1 again (S26).

After S7, the pen tablet 1 starts communication in the smart phone mode(S8). Then, in response to the command transmitted at S26, the pentablet 1 transmits a response DeviceDescriptor including the product IDindicating the pen tablet and the vendor ID indicating the vendor B(S9).

According to the driver table illustrated in FIG. 4 , the vendor IDindicating the vendor B is associated with the pen tablet driver DB.Hence, receiving the response DeviceDescriptor including the vendor IDindicating the vendor B, the smart phone 20 determines that the driverto be applied is the pen tablet driver DB (S27). The pen tablet driverDB can be used also in the smart phone 20. Thus, the smart phone 20actually starts the determined pen tablet driver DB (S28), andcommunicates with the pen tablet 1.

According to the pen tablet 1 in accordance with the present embodiment,processing on the pen tablet 1 side can make the pen tablet 1 of thevendor A and the smart phone 20 able to communicate with each other.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the pen tablet1 can operate in the PC mode corresponding to the own driver of thevendor when the pen tablet 1 transfers data to the PC 10 operating onthe OS 17 of Microsoft Windows (registered trademark), and operate inthe smart phone mode corresponding to the versatile driver differentfrom the own driver of the vendor when the pen tablet 1 transfers datato the smart phone 20 operating on the OS 27 of Android (registeredtrademark).

Hence, the pen tablet 1 can communicate with each of the PC 10 operatingon the OS 17 of Microsoft Windows (registered trademark) and the smartphone 20 operating on the OS 27 of Android (registered trademark). Itcan therefore be said that the pen tablet 1 capable of supporting amulti-device environment and a multi-OS environment can be provided. Inaddition, in spite of the specifications of the smart phone 20 in whichspecifications the vendor's own driver cannot be installed, it ispossible to avoid a situation in which the OS 27 of the smart phone 20fails in starting the vendor's own driver, and therefore the pen tablet1 cannot be used as a result of determining the vendor's own driver as atarget to be started because the vendor's own driver is stored in thedriver table.

A preferred embodiment of the present disclosure has been describedabove. However, the present disclosure is not at all limited to such anembodiment, but the present disclosure can of course be carried out invarious modes without departing from the spirit of the presentdisclosure.

The various embodiments described above can be combined to providefurther embodiments. All of the U.S. patents, U.S. patent applicationpublications, U.S. patent applications, foreign patents, foreign patentapplications and non-patent publications referred to in thisspecification and/or listed in the Application Data Sheet areincorporated herein by reference, in their entirety. Aspects of theembodiments can be modified, if necessary to employ concepts of thevarious patents, applications and publications to provide yet furtherembodiments.

These and other changes can be made to the embodiments in light of theabove-detailed description. In general, in the following claims, theterms used should not be construed to limit the claims to the specificembodiments disclosed in the specification and the claims, but should beconstrued to include all possible embodiments along with the full scopeof equivalents to which such claims are entitled. Accordingly, theclaims are not limited by the disclosure.

What is claimed is:
 1. A pen tablet comprising: a communicationinterface configured to communicate with both a first external apparatusthat operates using a first operating system and a second externalapparatus that operates using a second operating system; and acontroller configured to operate in a first mode corresponding to afirst driver and operate in a second mode corresponding to a seconddriver, wherein the first driver is different from the second driver,and wherein the controller is configured to: perform firstcommunications via the communication interface with the second externalapparatus in the first mode, wherein during the first communications thepen tablet transmits to the second external apparatus productidentification information and first vendor identification informationcorresponding to the first driver, wherein during the firstcommunications, the second external apparatus decides to start the firstdriver on the second external apparatus, and wherein the firstcommunications end as a result of the second external apparatusdetermining that the first communications cannot be performed becausethe first driver is not present within the second external apparatus,and after the first communications end, perform second communicationsvia the communication interface with the second external apparatus inthe second mode, wherein during the second communications the pen tablettransmits to the second external apparatus the product identificationinformation and second vendor identification information correspondingto the second driver.
 2. The pen tablet according to claim 1, wherein:the controller connects to the first external apparatus as a firstdevice while the controller operates in the first mode, and thecontroller connects to the second external apparatus as a second devicedifferent from the first device while the controller operates in thesecond mode.
 3. The pen tablet according to claim 2, wherein: thecontroller transmits the first vendor identification information to thefirst external apparatus while the controller operates in the firstmode.
 4. The pen tablet according to claim 1, wherein the controller isconfigured to: start the first communications in response to aconnection of the communication interface to the second externalapparatus; and switch to the second communications while operating inthe second mode when the controller determines that the operating systemof the second external apparatus is the second operating system.
 5. Thepen tablet according to claim 4, wherein the controller switches to thesecond communication while operating in the second mode by disconnectingthe connection between the communication interface and the secondexternal apparatus.
 6. A method performed by a pen tablet, the methodcomprising: communicating via a communication interface with a firstexternal apparatus that operates using a first operating system;communicating via the communication interface with a second externalapparatus that operates using a second operating system; operating acontroller in a first mode corresponding to a first driver; operatingthe controller in a second mode corresponding to a second driver,wherein the first driver is different from the second driver; performingfirst communications via the communication interface with the secondexternal apparatus in the first mode, wherein the first communicationsinclude transmitting to the second external apparatus productidentification information and first vendor identification informationcorresponding to the first driver, wherein during the firstcommunications, the second external apparatus decides to start the firstdriver on the second external apparatus, and wherein the firstcommunications end as a result of the second external apparatusdetermining that the first communications cannot be performed becausethe first driver is not present within the second external apparatus,and after the first communications end, performing second communicationsvia the communication interface with the second external apparatus inthe second mode, operating the controller wherein the secondcommunications including transmitting to the second external apparatusthe product identification information and second vendor identificationinformation corresponding to the second driver.
 7. The method accordingto claim 6, further comprising: connecting to the first externalapparatus as a first device while operating the controller in the firstmode; and connecting to the second external apparatus as a second devicedifferent from the first device while operating the controller in thesecond mode.
 8. The method according to claim 6, the method comprising:transmitting the first vendor identification information to the firstexternal apparatus while operating the controller in the first mode. 9.The method according to claim 6, further comprising: disconnecting aconnection to the second external apparatus.
 10. A non-transitorycomputer-readable medium storing computer-readable instructions that,when executed by a processor, cause a pen tablet to: communicate via acommunication interface with a first external apparatus that operatesusing a first operating system; communicate via the communicationinterface with a second external apparatus that operates using a secondoperating system; operate in a first mode corresponding to a firstdriver; operate in a second mode corresponding to a second driver,wherein the first driver is different from the second driver; performfirst communications via the communication interface with the secondexternal apparatus in the first mode, wherein during the firstcommunications the pen tablet transmits to the second external apparatusproduct identification information and first vendor identificationinformation corresponding to the first driver, wherein during the firstcommunications, the second external apparatus decides to start the firstdriver on the second external apparatus, and wherein the firstcommunications end as a result of the second external apparatusdetermining that the first communications cannot be performed becausethe first driver is not present within the second external apparatus;and after the first communications end, when performing secondcommunications via the communication interface with the second externalapparatus in the second mode, operate wherein during the secondcommunications the pen tablet transmits to the second external apparatusthe product identification information and second vendor identificationinformation corresponding to the second driver.
 11. Thecomputer-readable medium according to claim 10, wherein: theinstructions, when executed by the processor, cause the pen tablet to:connect to the first external apparatus as a first device whileoperating in the first mode; and connect to the second externalapparatus as a second device different from the first device whileoperating in the second mode.
 12. The computer-readable medium accordingto claim 10, wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor,cause the pen tablet to: transmit the first vendor identificationinformation to the first external apparatus while operating in the firstmode.
 13. The computer-readable medium according to claim 10, whereinthe instructions, when executed by the processor, cause the pen tabletto disconnect a connection to the second external apparatus whenswitching from operating in the first mode to operating in the secondmode.
 14. The pen tablet according to claim 1, wherein: the controlleris configured to determine, based on a result of the firstcommunications, that an operating system of the second externalapparatus is the second operating system, and the second communicationare performed after the first communications end and after the operatingsystem of the second external apparatus is determined to be the secondoperating system.
 15. The method according to claim 6, furthercomprising: determining, based on a result of the first communications,that an operating system of the second external apparatus is the secondoperating system, and the second communication are performed after thefirst communications end and after the operating system of the secondexternal apparatus is determined to be the second operating system. 16.The computer-readable medium according to claim 10, wherein: thecomputer-readable instructions, when executed by a processor, cause thepen tablet to determine, based on a result of the first communications,that an operating system of the second external apparatus is the secondoperating system, and the second communication are performed after thefirst communications end and after the operating system of the secondexternal apparatus is determined to be the second operating system.